Swiss Heritage Society

What Swiss Heritage Society does

The Swiss Heritage Society (legal name: Schweizer Heimatschutz) is an independent, membership-based non-profit association (Verein) founded in 1905 and headquartered in Villa Patumbah, Zürich. Its stated mandate is to protect and promote Switzerland's built heritage, architectural culture, village images, and cultural landscapes. The organization operates as an umbrella body for 25 semi-autonomous cantonal sections, serving approximately 27,000 members, patrons, and supporters, and engaging hundreds of expert volunteers nationwide.

The society's offering spans multiple programs rather than a unified platform: the Wakkerpreis (one of Switzerland's most prestigious municipal awards for exemplary settlement development), the Schulthess Gartenpreis (garden culture award), the Heimatschutzzentrum education center in Villa Patumbah (exhibitions, school workshops, guided tours), the Stiftung Ferien im Baudenkmal (foundation that acquires, restores, and rents out endangered historic buildings as vacation properties), the Marché Patrimoine marketplace connecting heritage buildings with preservation-minded buyers, the Rote Liste advocacy list of at-risk heritage objects, a publications program and membership magazine, and the Schoggitaler chocolate-coin fundraising initiative run jointly with Pro Natura since 1946. There is no disclosed proprietary technology stack; digital presence is limited to an e-commerce shop (Shopify), Instagram, Facebook, and an email newsletter.

The organization is funded primarily through membership fees, donations, publication sales, and Schoggitaler proceeds (split evenly with Pro Natura; school classes receive a double share). It is Zewo-certified, indicating Swiss standards of transparent donation handling. Revenue is not publicly disclosed. There are no funding rounds, no parent company, and no ownership by private equity or venture capital. The society has roughly 29–35 full-time staff distributed across its Geschäftsstelle, Heimatschutzzentrum, Stiftung Ferien im Baudenkmal, and Schoggitaler office. Its sole named long-duration commercial alliance is with Pro Natura; it also engages in policy advocacy on Swiss spatial-planning law (notably RPG 2).

Name

Swiss Heritage Society

Legal name

Schweizer Heimatschutz

Website

https://heimatschutz.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1905

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Swiss Heritage Society (Schweizer Heimatschutz) is a 1905-founded independent non-profit association protecting Switzerland's built heritage through awards, education, advocacy, and 25 cantonal sections serving roughly 27,000 members.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Heritage and Architectural Culture Conservation Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Cultural Heritage Institutions (Archives, Historic Houses, Monuments Foundations) (THAJADAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Arts, Culture & Humanities Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAJ), Private Cultural Immersion & Heritage Experiences (Local Hosts, Traditions) (THAJALAJ)

Keywords

• Heritage preservation services
• Architectural culture advocacy
• Cultural conservation programs
• Monument protection association
• Historic building restoration

Headquarters

HQ city

Zürich

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Membership fees and donations: Revenue is generated primarily through membership subscriptions and voluntary donations from approximately 27,000 members and patrons across Switzerland.
2. Schoggitaler sales: The Schoggitaler (heritage chocolate coin) is sold at Swiss post offices and via a dedicated web shop. Sales proceeds are split evenly between Pro Natura and the Swiss Heritage Society, funding environmental and heritage conservation projects. School classes participating in sales receive a double sales share.
3. Publications and merchandise sales: The organization operates an online shop (store.heimatschutz.ch) selling publications (books, brochures), themed items (kitchen towels), and the Schoggitaler. Revenue from publication sales supports organizational activities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Swiss Heritage Society (Schweizer Heimatschutz) is a Swiss non-profit membership association (Verein) that protects built heritage, village images, and cultural landscapes through advisory services, the Wakkerpreis and Schulthess Gartenpreis award programs, the Heimatschutzzentrum education center in Villa Patumbah, the Stiftung Ferien im Baudenkmal adaptive-reuse foundation, and the joint Schoggitaler chocolate-coin fundraising initiative with Pro Natura. It serves approximately 27,000 members, patrons, and supporters across 25 cantonal sections, funded by membership fees, donations, and sales of publications, merchandise, and the Schoggitaler.

Product overview

Swiss Heritage Society (Schweizer Heimatschutz) operates as a unified association offering multiple heritage preservation programs rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offerings include the Wakkerpreis and Schulthess Gartenpreis awards for exemplary achievements in architectural and garden heritage; the Heimatschutzzentrum education center in Villa Patumbah for public outreach; the Ferien im Baudenkmal foundation for adaptive reuse of endangered buildings; and the Marché Patrimoine marketplace connecting historic properties with preservation-minded buyers. Supporting programs include the Rote Liste advocacy initiative, publications, the Heimatschutz/Patrimoine membership magazine, and the Schoggitaler chocolate coin fundraising initiative (jointly with Pro Natura). The organization serves approximately 27,000 members through 25 cantonal sections and has been active since 1905.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Wakkerpreis: Award given to Swiss municipalities for exemplary settlement and village development
• Schulthess Gartenpreis
• Ferien im Baudenkmal
• Heimatschutzzentrum
• Rote Liste
• Schoggitaler
• Marché Patrimoine

Products and services

• Heimatschutzzentrum (Heritage Protection Center) The Heimatschutzzentrum provides cultural education about Swiss architectural heritage through guided tours, workshops for school classes, the permanent exhibition on Swiss building culture, and participation in events such as the Lange Nacht der Zürcher Museen. It is located in the publicly accessible ground and garden floors of Villa Patumbah.
• Stiftung Ferien im Baudenkmal (Vacation in Historic Monuments) Vacation rentals in carefully restored historic monuments. The foundation acquires endangered heritage buildings, sensitively restores them, and rents them out as vacation properties so that the buildings have a continued, living use and revenue stream that funds their preservation.
• Marché Patrimoine Marché Patrimoine is a platform that connects historically valuable, architecturally significant buildings with buyers and enthusiasts interested in heritage preservation. It facilitates the transfer of heritage properties so that they can be preserved and maintained by new owners who share the organization's heritage values.
• Schoggitaler (Heritage Chocolate Coin) The Schoggitaler is a heritage-themed chocolate coin sold at Swiss post offices and via the Schoggitaler web shop. Sales proceeds are split evenly between Pro Natura and Swiss Heritage Society to fund environmental and heritage conservation projects. The price was raised to CHF 8 (from CHF 4, first increase since 1998) for the 80th anniversary in 2026. School classes that participate in selling the coin receive a double sales share.
• Membership (Mitgliedschaft) Annual membership in Schweizer Heimatschutz, available to Swiss citizens directly through the website or via any of the 25 cantonal sections. Members support the organization's heritage protection mission financially and through civic engagement, and receive member benefits including the Heimatschutz/Patrimoine magazine.
• Publikationen und Merchandise (Publications and Themed Merchandise) Books, brochures, themed merchandise, and the Schoggitaler sold directly to consumers through the organization's online shop (store.heimatschutz.ch). Publications convey the value of Swiss architectural heritage and regional characteristics; merchandise includes themed items such as kitchen towels. Revenue from publication sales supports the organization's heritage activities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 50 million Schoggitaler coins sold, funding landmark conservation and nature projects across Switzerland over 80 years.

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Pro NaturacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1946Pro Natura and the Swiss Heritage Society jointly run the Schoggitaler initiative, one of Switzerland's most successful fundraising campaigns. Since 1946, school classes have sold Schoggitaler coins, with proceeds split evenly between the two organizations to fund landmark conservation and nature protection projects. The partnership combines heritage and environmental conservation under a shared national campaign.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• National Trust for Scotland: Independent Scottish heritage charity with a similar membership-driven, property-focused mandate, comparable in size and structure to SHS, making it a strong regional analogue.
• National Trust (UK): The UK's flagship membership-based heritage and conservation charity with millions of members, a property portfolio, and a national mandate for heritage preservation—directly comparable to SHS in mission, membership model, and adaptive-reuse tourism.
• Fondation du patrimoine (France): France's national heritage foundation operating an adaptive-reuse property program with national member support and municipal award schemes—a continental European peer with the closest mission alignment to SHS.
• Pro Natura: Switzerland's leading nature conservation NGO and the 50/50 joint operator of the Schoggitaler initiative with SHS since 1946; structured as a membership-based Verein, serving as both partner and most analogous Swiss nonprofit peer.
• Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz: Germany's largest private foundation for monument preservation, fundraising through donations and lottery partnerships; comparable in mission, scale, and donor-advised approach to Swiss monument protection.
• English Heritage: UK charity caring for historic properties, monuments, and sites via membership and grants—comparable to SHS in monument curation, public education (Heimatschutzzentrum analogue), and recognition programs.
• Stiftung Landschaftsschutz Schweiz (SL): Swiss foundation for the protection of Swiss landscapes; operates within the same Swiss heritage/landscape advocacy ecosystem, with comparable policy focus and federal funding mechanisms to SHS.

Broad incumbents

• World Monuments Fund: Global NGO funding heritage preservation worldwide through grants, advocacy, and the Watch List program—a broader-scale, international analogue to SHS's advocacy and grantmaking model.

Emerging players

• Vereniging Natuurmonumenten: Dutch nature and landscape conservation society with a large member base and a combination of property stewardship and advocacy—overlapping with SHS through the nature-heritage intersection modeled by Schoggitaler.

Others

• Heimatschutz / Patrimoine Suisse Association for the Swiss Monuments Council: Swiss federal advisory body and network in built-heritage policy, providing policy/research overlap with SHS's work on RPG 2 and federal monument protection frameworks.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/heimatschutz_ch
• Facebookfacebook.com/heimatschutz.ch
• Instagraminstagram.com/schweizer.heimatschutz
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/schweizer-heimatschutz

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Swiss Heritage Society